3.13.2015

Angry Reader of the Week: Karin Wang

"What I am today is a direct result of where I'm from."

Hello, folks! Once again, it's time to meet the Angry Reader of the Week, spotlighting you, the very special readers of this website. Over the years, I've been able to connect with a lot of cool folks, and this is a way of showing some appreciation and attention to the people who help make this blog what it is. This week's Angry Reader is Karin Wang.

In front of my laptop, which is on the kitchen counter (non-profit employee's version of the standing desk).

Where are you from?

The Midwest -- Michigan, Indiana, Illinois -- during a time when the "model minority" myth was widespread and Vincent Chin's murder was defining a generation of Asian Americans. "Fresh off the boat" was a racist insult, not a hit network TV show (which, by the way, yay!). What I am today is a direct result of where I'm from.

What are you?

A 2nd generation Taiwanese American. As Taiwanese immigrants who support Taiwan's independence from China, my parents taught me to be proud to be Taiwanese and instilled in me from an early age a strong sense of democracy and justice. As a child growing up in the 1970s and 1980s Midwest, learning to understand and appreciate my Taiwanese roots gave me my first real sense of belonging and identity in an otherwise alienating place and time. Those early lessons paved the way for a career in civil rights and social justice.

What do you do?

Help run Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles, the nation's largest Asian American civil rights legal organization (official title: Vice-President of Programs & Communications). Advancing Justice-LA works on everything from helping domestic violence survivors and undocumented youth, to fighting worker exploitation, to advocating for greater racial equity in schools, to training new generations of leaders. Although I'm a lawyer by training, I see myself as an advocate in a broader sense, using not just the law but other tools -- the legislative process, the power of coalitions, the media -- to advance justice. I love that I work in an organization that uses every tool that it can to create change.